Ghanaian midfielder Mohammed Kudus could not make the final ten-man shortlist for the CAF Player of the Year Award The Black Stars midfielder had a good first season in the English Premier League in his debut campaign for West Ham Ademola Lookman of Nigeria and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi lead the list for the Player of the Year award
The Confederation of African Football has released the final ten-man shortlist for the 2024 African Player of the Year. Surprisingly, Ghana and West Ham United’s Mohammed Kudus is missing from the list.
The Confederation of African Football has released the final ten-man shortlist for the 2024 African Player of the Year. Surprisingly, Ghana and West Ham United’s Mohammed Kudus is missing from the list.
However, his club form could not match up with his international form as the Black Stars suffered a group-stage exit at AFCON.
Who are the ten players nominated? The list released by CAF is dominated by players from the best teams at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast early this year. Nigeria had William Troost-Ekong and the favourite for the award Ademola Lookman in the top ten. Morocco’s duo, Soufiane Rahimi and Achraf Hakimi, also make the list alongside AFCON winner and Brighton star Simon Adingra.
DR Congo captain Chancel Mbemba, Edmund Tapsoba of Burkina Faso and Bayer Leverkusen, Amine Gouiri of Algeria, South Africa’s Ronwen Williams and Serhou Guirassy of Guinea and Borussia Dortmund complete the list. All ten players distinguished themselves for their clubs and countries in the year in retrospect.
Why Kudus failed to make the cut? Speaking to US-based Ghanaian journalist Herbert Boakye-Yiadom, the journalist explained that Ghana’s performances at international competitions hugely affected the West Ham star. “Kudus could have easily made the list of Ghana had even reached the quarter-final but unfortunately that AFCON performance really derailed his chances. It could have been better if the team had bounced back in the qualifiers,”
